Minimum maternity leave in the EU should be extended from 14 to 20 weeks and be fully paid, believe MEPs in the Women's Rights Committee. An entitlement to paid paternity leave of at least two weeks was also approved by the committee.

MEPs in the Women's Rights Commitee have proposed that the minimum maternity leave in the EU be extended from 14 to 20 weeks, 6 weeks of which would be taken after childbirth.

The committee's report was adopted by 19 votes in favour, 13 against and 1 abstentions. The draft legislation seeks to lay down minimum rules at EU level. Member States may introduce or keep existing rules that are more favourable to workers than those laid down in the directive. This issue will be discused in hte next plenary session in Strasbourg.

In October 2008, the Commission proposed an update of the current directive 92/85/EEC and an extension of minimum maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks, 6 of which would have to be taken after childbirth. Later, in april 2009, Women's Rights Committee proposed an extension of the leave to at least 20 weeks, full salary for 6 weeks and a minimum figure of 85% the rest of the period.

Fully paid

Workers on maternity leave must be paid their full salary, which must be 100% of their last monthly salary or their average monthly salary, argued the committee.

In its draft law, the European Commission recommended the principle of full payment. However, it did not propose making full payment mandatory but simply said it should not be below the rate of sick-leave payments.

Furthermore, fully paid additional maternity leave should be granted in specific situations such as premature childbirth, children with disabilities, mothers with disabilities, teenage mothers, multiple birth, and births occurring within 18 months of previous births.

Paternity leave

Member States must give fathers the right to fully paid paternity leave of at least two weeks within the period of maternity leave, says the committee report. So far, there is no legislation at EU level on paternity leave, and Spanish Presidency of the EU recently expressed its concern on this issue.